The Senior Handbook, now updated for the 2008-2009 school year, contains information of interest to current seniors at Whitman College.
Application for Degree Candidacy
Please check the following list of items that need to be completed in order for you to receive your diploma at Commencement. If you have any questions about the status of your college requirements for graduation, please contact Janet Mallen in the Registrar's Office (x5982). If you have concerns about completing departmental requirements for your major(s), speak with your faculty adviser.
Is the Projected Graduation Date listed on the top of your current Academic Evaluation accurate? If not, please notify the Registrar's Office immediately.
The Application for Degree Candidacy form is designed as a check that you are on track to complete graduation requirements. It is due at the end of the sixth week of the first semester of your senior year. May graduates will receive this form in the Fall during the last week of September and should submit it to the Registrar's Office in person on or before the ADC deadline (see calendar). December graduates will receive their packet in the Spring.
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ADC deadline for May 2009 Candidates |
10/10/08 |
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Honors application for Spring 2009 |
10/10/08 |
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ADC deadline for December 2009 Candidates |
2/27/09 |
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Honors application for Fall 2009 |
2/27/09 |
You need a minimum of 124 credits for graduation. You may transfer work from other accredited colleges (after you have achieved junior status, credit will be accepted only from four year colleges) but a minimum of 54 credits must be earned on the Whitman campus, 44 of which must be in regularly graded courses (i.e. not Cr/NC or P-D-F). Note that there are limitations on activity credit (see p.9 of the 2008-2009 Catalog).
If you wish transfer credit to be considered towards your graduation requirements, but it is not already a part of your record, please be sure to have an official transcript and a completed Request for Approval of Transfer Credit form on file in our office. We must receive all notification of transfer credit on or before May 1 for spring graduation.
(Note: Whitman is on the semester system. Thus approved courses will transfer one-to-one from other semester-based institutions. If the institution is on the quarter system, for every three quarter credits of an approved transfer course, you will receive two Whitman credits. Remember that grades from other colleges will not be included in your Whitman GPA.)
It is recommended that you complete your distribution requirements by the end of your seventh semester of college work. Courses are required in six distribution areas (see p.37-38 of the catalog).
For a list of the course work needed to complete the major(s), please refer to the catalog that was in effect during the second semester of your sophomore year, when you submitted your Declaration of Major. This catalog year is printed at the top of your Academic Evaluation. If any deviation from that course work has been approved by your major department and is not already shown on your academic evaluation, a memo to the Registrar's Office from the department chair will be necessary. Please discuss completion of your major requirements with your faculty adviser. Note that only one-third of the credits required for your major may come from transfer work. The remainder of the work must be completed at Whitman. If you are pursuing a double major, courses applying to one major may not apply to the other major.
Submit the 'Intention to Complete a Minor' form at the time you complete your Application for Degree Candidacy. Please check the current catalog for requirements for any minor you choose to pursue and complete a form for each. If you use any transfer work toward the requirements you must obtain the signature of the chair of the appropriate department. As with the major, any course substitutions will require an accompanying memo together with the department chair's signature on the minor form. Courses used towards your major cannot be used as part of your minor; courses used in one minor can not apply to another minor.
Check out the guidelines for this year's application for honors in a major study by clicking here.
A petition for approval to pursue Honors in Major Study must be submitted to your major department(s) or major committee in the case of Individually Planned Majors within the first six weeks of the semester prior to the semester of enrollment in thesis. That is, for students expecting to enroll for Honors in the Spring semester, petitions should be submitted by the Fall deadline (see calendar). No student will be permitted to enroll in Honors Thesis unless their application has been approved.
For Application for Honors in Major, the following criteria must be met:
Honors in Major Study will not be awarded unless the following criteria are met upon completion of the thesis:
A copy of instructions for completion of the thesis will be sent to each student after notice of approval has been received by the Registrar's Office. Additional copies are available from the Library.
(Please note: Honors Thesis is considered a course and must be added and dropped in accordance with rules governing regular course work In the event that the criteria for Honors are not met, registration will be adjusted to either Senior Thesis or Independent Study, depending upon your major department. Any other late change in registration (for example, dropping the course from your schedule) will require a petition to the Board of Review.)
Consult the Academic Evaluation that accompanies your ADC mailing for much of the information needed to complete this form. Do not complete this form at this time if you expect to enroll for more than one additional semester at Whitman. Please make sure that the expected graduation date at the top of your Academic Evaluation reflects the end of your final semester at Whitman.
Make sure that 'Total credits complete' plus 'Total credits senior year' meet the 124 credit minimum for graduation. (If you expect to enroll for a further semester at Whitman, please correct your expected graduation date with the Registrar's Office immediately and do not complete the form at this time.) In addition, the total of 'Major credits complete' and 'Major credits senior year' should meet the minimum major credit requirement as stated in the catalog.
A minimum GPA of 2.000 is required both for your Whitman cumulative GPA and in your major. For those students with combined or double majors, a minimum 2.0 GPA is required for each separate major department.
Honors in Course are based on your cumulative Whitman GPA. They may be awarded to those students who have been in residence at Whitman College for the past four semesters, or a total of six semesters. Do not confuse this with Honors in Major Study for which certificates are issued.
summa cum laude Whitman GPA of 3.900 or greater with no course grades of FIf you have an expected graduation date of May or September, your final semester grades will be delivered to your Whitman mailbox on the Friday prior to Commencement. Other senior grades are not due until after Commencement, and will be available on the web when grades are available to continuing students.
A Commencement Information Form will be sent to you with your Application for Degree Candidacy during the first semester of your senior year. Please write clearly. You may choose to write your full name as it appears on your Whitman record, or substitute or eliminate a middle initial. A memo confirming your name, major and home town will be sent out following Spring Break. Please notify the Registrar's Office immediately if there are any changes. Your name will appear this way on your diploma and will be printed together with the remaining information in the Commencement Program. The Program will also list any Honors in Major Study and/or Honors in Course.
Commencement information will be sent out by the Alumni Office and by the Dean of Faculty prior to Commencement. This will include information about graduation announcements, tickets, gowns, etc. Please retain these mailings for reference. A mandatory Senior Meeting is also scheduled in early May.
Final transcripts will not be available after grade processing begins at the end of the Spring semester and for about three weeks following Commencement. You may order transcripts before you leave campus and mark the box 'Send transcript after grades for this term have been recorded.' These will then be mailed out at the earliest possible opportunity. A complimentary unofficial transcript and a copy of instructions for ordering additional official copies will be mailed to your home address in June.
Winter break is a busy time for transcripts. Please be sure you order well ahead of time for graduate school or other applications. Again, transcripts cannot be issued until all grade processing for Fall courses has been completed.
Whitman College no longer charges to process transcripts. Transcript order forms can be found in the Registrar's Office and online. It usually takes one to three business days to process a request.
If you expect to complete your degree requirements at the end of the Fall semester, you are often referred to as a "December graduate." In truth, Whitman confers degrees only twice a year -- May and September. When you complete your degree requirements, your transcript will read "BA complete -- not conferred." Your degree will be awarded and your diploma issued and dated on the following Commencement.
The diploma that you receive following your graduation from Whitman is unique. There are no copies on file at Whitman. Verification of your degree in a foreign country, e.g. Japan, may require your original diploma, in place of or in combination with a transcript, so keep it in a secure location.
A new diploma may be ordered if you can verify that the original has been destroyed. However, replacements are generally produced only when diplomas are ordered for May and September graduates.
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